Cats and Mice
by Hypnotized by the Whirl
Summary: Hermione is tired of Ron's recent behavior. When a freak accident sends Draco to the infirmary, Hermione decides to get her mind off of Ron by trying to help Draco. DM/HG
1. Scratches

**Scratches**

"I'm getting right sick of him." Hermione burst out as she stormed into the common room.

"Hermione, what's wrong? Who's upsetting you?" Ginny asked, standing up from her chair.

Hermione crossed over to the adjacent couch and lay down. "Who do you think?"

"Malfoy?" Ginny asked. She returned to sit in the chair. "What did he do this time?"

"Actually, it wasn't him. He hasn't been that bad lately. In relative terms he hasn't been that bad, which is still pretty bad." Hermione sat up onto the couch. "No, it's Ron. He's just been such a twat the last few weeks. Ever since Lavender has been throwing herself at him, he's become arrogant, as if every girl wants him. He seems to think that I'm one of the girls who want him."

"Hermione, love, I don't see the problem. You do want him." Ginny said. "You should see it as a plus."

"I don't though. His arrogance is a turn off." Hermione said.

"But you have a chance with him this way. Before, he probably never gave you and him as a couple a thought." Ginny said.

"I'd rather be the cat chasing the mouse than being the mouse caught in a trap. He wouldn't even bother pursuing me, because if it became too hard, he'd just wander off to one of the other girls he thinks he can get." Hermione said. "Speaking of cats, I should check on Crookshanks. I'm probably going to take a cat nap before starting on schoolwork."

"'Kay." Ginny said. As Hermione walked up the staircase to the girls' dormitory, Harry and Ron entered the common room. Ron, in a rush, ran up to the boys' dormitory while Harry walked over to Ginny and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Ron's being a git."

"I prefer hello, but a greeting's a greeting." Harry said. "What's up?" He sat on the couch arm.

"Ron has become a bit standoffish because of the whole Lavender thing." Ginny said.

"Oh, well it's nice he's finally getting some attention from a girl." Harry said.

"Lavender is a bit of a trollop, though. I mean...no that's what I mean; she's thrown herself at everyone practically. She's just running out of options now. I don't have that much of a problem, I suppose, but Hermione is being driven mad. Could you convince him to tone it down?"

"It's a bit late for that." Harry said, looking past Ginny. Ron stood there, in the tightest fitting shirt and leather pants known to man. "Ron, what are you wearing?"

"Don't you like it? I'm going to go pitch some woo." Ron said.

Ginny chuckled. "Pitch woo? What century are you living in?" She turned around, and immediately wished she hadn't. "RON! Please tell me that was your wand."

"She's not joking; those pants leave nothing to the imagination." Harry said.

"That's no problem of mine. Besides, it's best to just put it out there, so there's no surprise or disappointment." Ron said.

"That is disgusting." Ginny said, getting out of the chair. Without turning around, she said to Ron, "Have fun with your unseemly activities." She kissed Harry and said, "Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to go ask Hermione to remove that sight from my memory."

With Ginny gone, Harry spoke more freely; "Are you going to get lucky tonight?"

"Damn right. Who could resist this?" Ron smirked. "I'll just play the field and see where I can score."

"That's why I'm a seeker, and I've caught my golden snitch already. You can't play keeper forever and catch whatever's thrown to you."

Ron frowned. "We can't all be as lucky as you, Harry. Maybe the snitch will be in my grasp soon enough, but until then, I'm catching everything that comes at me."

"If you're not careful, Hermione's going to knock a bludger at you. She's getting pissed off at your behavior." Harry said.

Ron rolled his eyes and headed toward the exit; "Let her be, I finally have a chance with the ladies, and I'm not giving it up for Hermione."

"Have you ever considered that she's your snitch?" Harry asked.

"Can we drop the Quidditch metaphors?" Ron asked. "No, Hermione is not for me. We'll always be friends, unless she decides she can't stand me now. We're not like that though. I can't see myself with her anymore than the other way around. I don't expect to find anything real here though. You got lucky, but the rest of us, including me, don't expect something like that." Ron left abruptly, and Harry was left in the common room alone.

Ron opened the Fat Lady and headed toward the Room of Requirement where he agreed to meet Lavender. Aloud, he was muttering; "Me and Hermione, what was he getting at? There is nothing between us. I suppose I've thought about it, but he doesn't know that. I'm sure Hermione's thought about it too, but I'm sure she's thought about Harry like that too. It happens with close friends, and it's normal, but it's nothing more than a mere thought." Ron hadn't been paying much attention to where he was walking while he was wrapped in his thoughts, and ran into Draco.

"Weasel, watch where you're…what are you wearing?" He asked interrupting his own thought. "You cannot pull off leather pants. You don't have the legs, they're too long and skinny, and you certainly don't have the package."

"Can I get past? I have somewhere to be." Ron moved past him, and then realized what he said. "Why were you looking at my crotch?"

"What's there to look at?" Draco retorted.

Ron crossed his arms over his chest. "You're a poof, I bet. When you saw me coming, you must have won the lottery. Let me let you win again, and let you watch me walk away."

"You don't have an arse either." Draco said. "Let me help you with that." Draco pulled out his wand and said; "Bet my wand's bigger than yours too." Ron kept walking away. "Engorgio." Draco shouted, aiming at Ron's backside.

There must have been some quality in the fabric, magical or otherwise, but the incantation bounced off the fabric and hit Draco's wand hand. Before his eyes, his hand swelled to the size of a watermelon, completely engulfing his wand.

Ron laughed, and left Draco, albeit reluctantly since he felt somewhat sorry for Draco, but went off to the Room of Requirement so he could meet with Lavender.

Draco writhed in pain as his hand continued to swell. He yelled out for help, but to no avail. He tried to walk towards the infirmary, but his hand became too heavy to lift, and he was anchored in the middle of a hallway.

He didn't have to wait long, to his apparent luck, when he heard a voice coming down the hall. "Crookshanks! Where are you?" Hermione yelled. "I know you're around here somewhere."

"Granger?" Draco muttered to himself. He knew that her help was better than none, so he yelled out again. "Help!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Hermione turned a corner and screamed at the top of her lungs too. "Merlin's beard, Malfoy, is that you?"

"Yes." He answered tersely. "Who I am should hardly be an issue right now."

"Any chance you've seen a cat?" Hermione asked.

"Are you kidding?" Draco asked. "Can't you see I have other things on my mind?"

"Oh, shut up for a second." She said. A low growl came from under Draco's engorged hand. "I think Crookshanks is under your hand. Move it!"

Draco gave her a look, and then sighed. "If I could, don't you think I would have gone to the infirmary?"

"Well give me a hand…" Hermione chuckled. "Assist me in lifting your hand, so I can free my cat."

"Why should I?" Draco asked.

"I'll get Madam Pomfrey to shrink your hand." Hermione said.

"Get her first." Draco said.

"He'll suffocate." She pulled out her wand. "Just stay still. Wingardium Leviosa." His hand lifted just enough for Crookshanks to squeeze out from underneath. "Oh, are you okay, Crookshanks?" He was not in the mood though, and instead of going to Hermione, turned back around on Draco. A mad glint was in his eye, noticeable enough that Draco, even though he knew it would be pointless, tried to run away.

"He's going to kill me." Draco yelled.

"You were going to kill him." Hermione said.

"Keep him away from me." By then, however, it was too late. Crookshanks backed up, and got in a position to pounce. "Granger, grab your cat." Crookshanks was too fast for Hermione to pick him up. With all his speed and might, the fat little cat pounced onto Draco's hand with all claws unsheathed, and used them to sink into the hand. Draco let out a blood curdling scream as Crookshanks tore open his hand. An explosion of bone, blood and skin occurred and sent the three in question to different ends of the hallway.

* * *

Draco woke up with an odd feeling in him. His head was aching and there was a low growl in his ear. His hand wasn't swollen anymore; he couldn't feel any weight, but there was a compression on his chest. He opened his eyes and was met with the sight of Crookshanks, purring against him, and fluffing his robes. Draco, startled and agitated, used his left hand to grab Crookshanks by the scruff of the neck and throw the cat off of him.

"Why did you do that?" Hermione yelled, running to her cat's aid. "He likes you, even though you almost killed him."

"I don't care if he likes me. Not after what he…" He pointed his right index finger at Crookshanks threateningly, only to find that there was neither right index, nor right hand at all, to use. "Where the fuck did my hand go?" Draco asked. "I'm going to strangle that cat." Draco reached out for Crookshanks, but a hiss from Crookshanks sent him into retreat. "Keep that thing away from me."

"If you weren't a jerk, I'd feel sorry for you." Hermione said, gathering Crookshanks into her arms. "We can leave you alone. Madam Pomfrey was looking into a way to fix your hand; she'll be back in soon." Hermione headed for the door, but stopped when Crookshanks jumped out of her arms and jumped up next to Draco, who fell back, out of his bed, in an attempt to distance himself from the cat. "Crookshanks, leave him alone." The cat took no notice, and leapt down next to Draco.

"Get him away from me!" Draco yelled, he used his hands to push himself over the next bed, but forgetting one was just a nub, he landed on the bed instead, crying out in pain.

"You imbecile, I can't believe you're afraid of a harmless cat." Hermione said, bringing Draco back to his bed to lay him down.

"Harmless?! Tell that to my hand." Draco moaned. "That cat is a menace." As he spoke, Crookshanks jumped back onto the bed and rubbed his head against Draco's leg. "Get it away!" He screamed, thrashing his leg. "No more, father." Draco clamped his hand over his mouth.

Hermione was taken aback, yet intrigued by his outburst. "No more, father? Malfoy, why did you say that?

"It's nothing." Draco said.

"Sure didn't seem like noth…" Hermione started.

"It was nothing" Draco spit. His face was red, but his eyes were welling; he wanted to appear angry, but couldn't hide tears.

She was a genuinely nice person. If she weren't, she'd have no reason to do what she did. "Draco, I have no reason to care, and you have no reason to tell me, but it doesn't matter who you are, if your father is hurting you, you have to tell someone. You can trust me." She took his hand into hers.

"Granger, let go of my hand." Draco spoke coldly.

"I just want to help you, but if you don't want it, I won't push it." Hermione picked up Crookshanks and got off the bed. The sheets were dragged along with her, exposing Draco's thighs. He quickly tried to cover up with his robe, but was not fast enough. "Did he do that to you? Why wouldn't you tell anyone?"

"It wouldn't stop him, and he'd just be angry." Draco said.

Hermione hesitantly pulled back the robes covering Draco's marks. "How?"

"He put stray cats under the Imperius curse, and then forced them to attack me whenever I disobeyed him." Draco said.

"That's deplorable. Why don't you tell anybody? He needs to be condemned for his actions."

Draco sighed. "What happened to not pushing it? We aren't Muggles; we don't lock away our fathers for cruel punishment, and even if we did, father would find a way around it."

"But the Imperius curse is illegal."

"They won't care." Draco said.

"Yes they will. You can get him locked away."

"I don't want that to happen. He's an ass, but he's my father, and I'm loyal to him." Draco said. "I'm not going to turn on my family like that."

"He turned on you." Hermione said.

"You wouldn't understand that loyalty is important among pure-blood families. A mudblood like you wouldn't understand."

Hermione, enraged, slapped the scratches on Draco's thigh, causing him to wince in pain. "You're a git. I'm someone who cared just enough. I wanted to help you, but if you don't want it, fine." She tried to make Crookshanks follow her, but he stayed. "He won't leave you. I guess you'll just have to deal with it."

"Take it away, Granger."

She walked toward the door. "He won't hurt you, I promise; he has no loyalty to you, so there are no worries."

As Hermione left, Crookshanks slowly walked to Draco, and rubbed against his leg. Draco reluctantly petted his head, and received a purr of pleasure from Crookshanks.

A/N: Let me know what you think. I love feedback. Positive and constructive.


	2. Denied

**Denied**

"Hermione, did you find Crookshanks yet?" Ginny asked as Hermione walked into the common room.

"Yeah. He's with Malfoy right now." Hermione said, sitting down on a armchair, making herself comfortable.

"What!?" Ginny exclaimed. "Is he okay, what is that evil bastard doing to him. I'll kill him. How can you just sit there as he's doing god knows what to your poor cat."

"Ginny, calm down. Crookshanks is fine. He put him in the infirmary." Hermione said.

"I knew I liked that cat." Ginny said with a smile. "What happened."

"Malfoy's hand exploded." Hermione said. "It was disgusting."

"How?"

"Someone used an engorgement charm on him. Crookshanks claw cut into his oversized hand and it just exploded. We were both in the infirmary for a bit, but I only have a few bruises. His hand is still gone. I guess Crookshanks feels bad, because he's likely now curled up in Malfoy's lap and purring. It'd be sweet if it were anyone besides Malfoy."

"But why did you leave him there?" Ginny asked. "Malfoy is nothing but cruel to you."

"It wasn't my choice. Crookshanks wouldn't leave him." Hermione said. "He may be, but...I don't know he's just so helpless right now." She decided not to divulge the information Draco had confided in her. "I'll check on them later." Hermione got up and headed up to her dormitory.

Ginny watched her leave, maybe she was over-thinking, but she was fixed on the her choice of word: them. She shook her head and returned to her Divinations chart. Though Hermione had thought of it as pseudo magic, Ginny had found she had a knack for it. As she examined her chart, she saw something that she didn't quite understand. She grabbed her textbook and searched for what it could mean. She had to look several times, but she was certain she had read it correctly. She abruptly piled her things together and left the common room in a hurry.

* * *

Harry was in a sound sleep. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, an internal dilemma was raging and it's all he could think of when he was awake, but luckily for him, his sleep was dreamless and he was able to go a few hours without the thoughts weighing on his mind. Suddenly, he woke up. Someone was in his bed with him. "Ron?"

"Yeah, Harry. S'me." He slurred.

"Are you drunk?" He smelled alcohol on Ron's breath.

"No. Of course. A little." Ron wrapped his arm against Harry's midriff and snuggled into him, pressing his face into Harry's shoulder. "I needed it."

Harry felt wetness on his skin. "Ron, are you okay?"

"No." Ron whispered. He shook his head and continued sobbing. "No. They all said no."

"Who all?"

"Girls. All of them. None of them wanted to do anything with me." Ron pressed his face into Harry's shoulder harder, stifling his sobs. "Am I not good enough for any of them?"

"Ron, of course you are." Harry said. He slid down into his bed and wrapped his arms around Ron, holding his head to his chest, trying to console him. "Girls are picky." He realized that came out wrong and back tracked. "I mean, okay." He sighed, trying to find the words to say. "It's not that they're into you or not into you. Some of them would be super lucky to have you, but lately..." Harry stalled searching for the right word to say. "Lately you've been a dick." Ron looked up, a mixture of hurt and confusion swept his face. "I'm sorry Ron, but it's true. Ever since Lavender gave you attention, you've just got this swagger that is undeserved. You realize Lavender doesn't have any discriminating taste, don't you? She'll fuck everything."

"Oh so, you're saying I'm only good enough for sluts who'd sleep with anyone?" Ron said. "I don't need to hear this, especially from someone who claims their my best friend." He made to get out of the bed, but was clumsy about it, rolling off and falling to the ground. "Fuck." Ron said in a monotone, defeated voice.

"Ron, are you okay." Harry said, getting out of the bed and sitting down next to his friend.

"I'm fine." He said, facing down into the floor. "I'll just sleep here."

Harry started rubbing Ron's back. "You know that I did not mean you were only good for the girls who throw themselves at all the boys. I'm just saying that this attitude you have, this cockiness is repelling the nice girls. The girls worth more than one tawdry fling before they move on to the next guy. If you just want a girl to have some one-night stand with, that's fine, and I'm sure if you tried, you could find those girls, but they're not gonna be the ones that you want."

Ron didn't respond. Harry continued to rub his friends back until he heard faint snoring. Harry rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself. He lifted his friend up and carried him to his bed. He tucked Ron in and brushed his hair out of his face. He was a drunken angel. Harry gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, an almost maternal act he didn't understand. "Maybe you shouldn't go chasing after the girls." Harry sighed and crossed over to his own bed. He lay in bed, fearing sleep because he knew his dreams would take him to a place where he and Ron were together. He hated it; it was a place he could only visit in his dreams.

* * *

Ginny had always been a meddler. She couldn't keep her nose out of anybody's business. She lived on the grapevine and she knew that she was able to keep a lot of people's attention by knowing all the latest gossip and rumours about the castle. She was able to persuade so many to spill their secrets. She had a propensity for blackmailing that she reveled in. But for the first time, she wanted to meddle in her best friend's life. She stopped in the middle of a hallway, thinking that maybe she should just turn around and forget it, but this wasn't just anything. It involved a Slytherin and never could there ever be anything good when a Slytherin is involved.

Ginny entered the infirmary. She walked with purpose, but still hesitated, careful not to be too loud. Draco was the only patient there. She walked over to him and sat on the bed next to his. They were both sleeping, Draco and Crookshanks, but the latter stirred out of sleep by Ginny's presence. He gave her a curious look, as if to ask what she was up to. Ginny gave the cat a stern look, but felt silly doing it. She sighed. Crookshanks, deciding he didn't like the idea of Ginny's presence at the moment, needed his paws into Draco's side, unsheathing his claws. Draco woke up with a yelp; Crookshanks jumped off his lap and onto his legs. "Why did you wake me?" He asked the cat, giving him a scratch behind the ear. Crookshanks turned his head towards Ginny and meowed. Draco followed his gaze. "Weasley!" He exclaimed, startled. Bloody hell, what the fuck are you doing here?"

Ginny mumbled something incoherent, but regained composure. "I came for Crookshanks. I don't know why Hermione thinks it's okay for him to be here with you, but I don't like it, and I'm taking him back to where he belongs." Ginny made to grab Crookshanks, but Draco stopped her, raising his stubbed arm and watching her recoil. "Shit. He did that?"

"Yeah, your ass of a brother and this cat." Draco said. "Granted I prefer the cat in my lap than I would ever your brother."

"What does Ron have to do with this." Ginny asked.

"Nothing, mostly." Draco said. "I guess it was my fault. It doesn't matter now." Draco sighed. "You want the cat, take him." Ginny made to pick Crookshanks up, but he hissed and bounded to Draco's side, away from Ginny. "Guess he doesn't want to leave me. Nobody here wants you here so maybe you should just go." Ginny got up in a huff and turned toward the door.

"I don't know what game you're playing, Malfoy. But there's something going on. If you hurt Hermione, I will steal some chains from Filch and string you up by your dick." Ginny left the infirmary and made her way back to her house.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Draco asked nobody in particular. Crookshanks rubbed his head against Draco's arm and purred. "You're just a cat and I feel bad that you've had to put up with that for all these years."

A/N: It took awhile, but a new chapter is up...That's exciting. I hope you like it, give me a review, I'd be uber appreciative.


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